Spring-winding device



Mar. 6, 1923.

E. C. FREEMAN SPRING WINDING DEVICE Filed May 10, 1921 b sheets-sheet 1 (June wt I l I I llllllll I x ig 6 E557, 5 I Y r I I Mar. 6, 1923.

E. c. FREEMAN SPRING WINDING DEVICE Filed May 10, 1921 b sheets-sheet 2 Mar. 6, 1923.

awwemto'c fun 5 sheevs sheet 4 NH I] I 1 LI- lll l I ll E. C. FREEMAN SPRING WINDING DEVICE FJled May 10, 1921 351% 6mm 5 I Mar. 6, i923. 1,447,299

C. FREEMAN SPRING WINDING DEVICE Filed May '10, 1921 .b sheets-sheet 5 Patented Mar. 6, 1923.

Unites stares Parent carries.

ERNEST CHAS. FREEMAN, OF APALACHIN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO THE INTERNA- TIONAL TIME RECORDING COMPANY, YORK.

03 NEVT YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW SPRING-WINDING DEVICE.

Application filed MaylO, 1921.

To all 1 3710777.- it may concern.

Be it known that I, Ennns'r C. FREEMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Apalachin, in the county of Tiogaand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-finding Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invent-ion which forms the subject of this application for Letters Patent is animproved spring winding device the .nature and purpose of which may be readily understood from the following considerations well recognized as existing in all machine shops and plants devoted to the construction ot more or less complicated machinery.

Many machines, such, for example, as tabulators, time recorders and the like, require often a great number of small coiled or tension springs for their proper operation, and it is essential that these be all of definite tensile strength and uniform in other respects in order to avoid complication in the means oi adjustment. Such springs have habitually, heretofore, been made by hand by winding a wire of suitable metal about a mandrel or arbor, and cut ting the wound wire into approximately the lengths required. This method'is slow and from the very nature of things cannot result in the production of any quantity of uniform springs.

To avoid this objection I have devised a simple form of machine by which springs of any length and of perfectly uniform tension may be rapidly and cheaply produced, and the slow method of hand winding replaced by automatic production at a very greatly increased rate.

This machine is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the co iplete machine.

Fig. 2 is a similar view o1 a modification which is used for winding closed springs.

Fig. is a top plan view of the machine.

4t is an end view ot' the same.

Serial N0. 463,340.

F 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. l. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of F 1g. 1.

B g. 7 1s a view of the under side of a carriage used 1n the device.

Fig. 8 1s a section on the: line 88 of 1 1g. 4:.

' h1g3 9 15 a similar section of the modified rorin of machlne.

Il1e working parts are assembled in a suitable irame and are provided with a driving pulley or gear 1, by means of which rotation is imparted. to a long arbor 2 upon which the springs are wound. In one form ot' the machine or that adapted to wind opensprings, agear wheel 3 on the driven shaft nnparts rotation to a screw 4 extending longitudinally of the device and parallel with the arbor 2. g

I provide a carriage 5 which is mounted to travel over-"guide rods 6 the full length of the machine, and carried by said carriage is asplit nut 7 which embraces the screw a and by the rotation of the latter is advanced'an'd moves the carriage at a rate determined by the pitch of the screw. This split nut is operated by a cam plate Swhich is secured to the carriage 5 by screws or,

'pins 9 passing through concentric slots 10 in said plate, and pins 11, which are set in the two parts of the nut and extend out through slots 12 in the cam plate. The pins pass freely through the'space 13 in the carriage under the split-nut and when adjusted by turning the cam plate close the split nut around the screw 4; or release it from engagement therewith. These pins 11 are connected by a spring M which draws them together and closes the split nut when the cam and the gear are removed and the machine used for winding a closed spring as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

On the carriage 5 is also carrieda tension clamp composed of a stationary part 16 and a movable part 17 swivelled on a pin 15 set in the carriage, and the movable part or jaw of said clamp carries a pin 18 which rides in a slot 19 (Fig. 6) which permits the adjustment of the jaw 17 by a screw 20 and at the same time prevents said from moving towards the arbor 2.

Between the two parts of the tension clamp is a strip of fibre 21 or any other suitable material which is more or less compacted by the clamp to regulate the tension upon a wire 2-2 which passes through the clamp in the winding process.

Mounted on the carriage is a bushing 23 surrounding the arbor 2. This bushing adjustable by means oil a screw the head of which 25 enters a recess in the bushing 23 and which fits into the c: riage, a screw being employed to lock the adjusting screw in any position to which it may 3e set. The bushing is held in place by a swinging lever :27 locked down by a screw 28, Fig.

In the operation of this machine a wire or" proper character for a spring is passed through the tension clamp l6, H, which adjusted by the screw 20 to give the desired drag and hence tension on the wire. A. scale 29 is used for determining the angle of tension which enables this to be retained at all times. The wire is made fast to a clamp 30 secured to the arbor 2 and after the bushing 23 has been properly adjusted to posit-ion the machine is started. By the rotation of the arbor the wire is wound thereon to form the spring, and as the arbor is rotated the carriage is advanced so that the convolutions of the spring will be open to an extent determined by the pitch of the screw The cooperation of the rotating arbor, the tra eling bushing and the tension clamp produces aperfectly uniform spring. The length of the arbor is an arbitrary matter and more or less oi? it may he wound with wire according to the length of the spring required, or a long spring may be cut up into shorter sections.

Then open springs are to be wound it is manifestly necessary to use the screw l'ior advancing the carriage, but when a closed spring is wanted the gears 3 and the screw i are not required and are removed. In their place a weight 31 is connected by a cord 32 passing over a pulley 33 with the carriage and opposes the movement imparted to it b the winding wire acting against the end ot the bushing The weight will vary under difierent conditions, such diameter oi the wire, and the like, but by its use a close spring will be wound which perfectly itini form.

This device is a great labonsaver. By

its use a very great quantity of perfectly uniform springs may be produced in a very short time, and in this way one of the most annoying obstacles to good and rapid shop practice is entirely avoided.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a spring winding device the combination with a rotary arbor and means for driving the same, of a traveling carriage and means intermediate the same and the said driving means adapted to advance the carriage in a line parallel with the arbor at a rate proportional to the open or closed character of the spring to be wound, a bushing on said carriage surrounding the arbor and adjustable thereon with reference to the line of travel of the wire on its i y to the arbor, so that it may be brought into contact with the wire as it formed on the mandrel into a spring, and a tension device also carried by the carriage through which the wire passes on its way to the arbor.

2. In a spring winding device the co .ibination with an arbor, means for rotating the same, and a. screw rod also rotated by said means, of carriage, longitudinal supports for the same, the said carria e engaging with the said screw rod and adapted to be advanced thereby, a bushing mounted on the carriage and adapted to slide along the arbor, a tension clamp also mounted on the carriage, and means for adjusting the position of the bushing upon said carriage longitudinally with respect to said arbor, so that it may be brought into contact with the wire as is formed on the mandrel into a. spring.

8. In a spring winding device the combination with an arbor, means for rotating the same, and a screw rod parallel with said arbor also rotated by said means, of a carriage, means carried thereby for throwing it into or out of engagement with the screw I rod whereby it may be advanced or not thereby, a bushing mounted on the carriage and surrounding and sliding over said arbor, means for adjusting the position or said bushing on the carriage relatively to the line of travel of the wire in passing; to the arbor, so that it may be brougl'it into contact with the wire as it is "formed on the mandrel into a spring, and a tension clamp also mounted on the carriage through which the wire passes on its way to the arbor.

In testimony whereof 1 hereto afiix my signature.

ERNEST CHAS. FREElL-XX. 

